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Overview

In this fully updated new Seventh Edition, Mike Seeds shows students their place in the universe and not just their location, but their role as planet dwellers in an evolving universe. He also emphasizes how science works as opposed to just teaching facts about astronomy. This enthusiastic author inspires students' imaginations, sense of wonder, and excitement for new discoveries. At the same time, Seeds strives to arm students with a solid understanding of the process of science. Crafting a story about astronomy, Seeds hopes that students will be able to ask questions of nature and gradually puzzle out the beautiful secrets of the physical world.

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Booknews

The latest edition of this introduction to astronomy includes additions and rewrites reflecting recent discoveries about the Earth's past climate, new technologies in telescopes and space observation, and the latest research in black holes and galaxies. Covers origins of modern astronomy, astronomical tools, properties of stars, the structure of the universe, and the possibility of life beyond Earth. Includes color photos and diagrams, and appendices on astronomical coordinates and time and astronomical data, plus a glossary. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Meet the Author

Michael A. Seeds has been Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Franklin and Marshall (F&M) College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, since 1970. In 1989, he received F&M College's Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching. Seeds' love for the history of astronomy led him to create upper-level courses on Archaeoastronomy and Changing Concepts of the Universe. His research interests focus on variable stars and the automation of astronomical telescopes. Mike is coauthor with Dana Backman and Michele Montgomery of HORIZONS HYBRID: EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE, Thirteenth Edition, and UNIVERSE HYBRID: SOLAR SYSTEM, STARS AND GALAXIES, Eighth Edition, both published by Cengage Learning. He was Senior Consultant in the creation of the twenty-six-episode telecourse accompanying the book HORIZONS: EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE, Twelfth Edition.

Dana Backman works for the SETI Institute of Mountain View, California, as director of outreach for the SOFIA (Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy) mission at NASA's Ames Research Center. He also teaches introductory astronomy, astrobiology, and cosmology courses in Stanford University's Continuing Studies Program. From 1991 to 2003, he taught in the physics and astronomy department at Franklin and Marshall College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, where he invented and taught a Life in the Universe course in the interdisciplinary Foundations program. Dr. Backman's research interests focus on infrared observations of planet formation, models of debris disks around nearby stars, and evolution of the solar system's Kuiper Belt. With Mike Seeds, he also coauthored HORIZONS: EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE, Twelfth Edition (2012); UNIVERSE: SOLAR SYSTEMS, STARS, AND GALAXIES, Seventh Edition (2012); and FOUNDATIONS OF ASTRONOMY (2013), all published by Cengage Learning. Dr. Backman earned his bachelor's degree from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his doctorate from the University of Hawai'i.

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